Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Posted on August 6, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

8 recent examples of using QR Codes for marketing and/or brand awareness

It seems that QR Codes are finally catching on in the USA. The geeks have been screaming about QR codes and talking about how cool they are for years and if you find the right geek you might even receive a business card with a QR code on it. QR which stands for “Quick Response” was created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. A QR Code is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code). QR codes are huge overseas and are used in various ways such as purchasing products to check-in users to locations

QR Codes recently have become a hot subject for marketing agencies and social media practitioners looking to stand out from everyone else to do something creative, cool and new. In the last two weeks, in at least four of my meetings QR Codes have been a topic of discussion and implementation. If you’re wondering what are my plans are for QR Codes, lets just say that QR Codes are going to be a huge asset moving forward in the development of @TriOut. For a hint read the blog post here: TriOut v2 Dev Journal: User Interface. Also QR Codes are going to play a role with Neogence, a NC startup that I’m doing some consulting with.

But for now, it seems that New York is becoming the testing grounds for QR Codes with the recent Calvin Klein Get It Uncensored campaign where Calvin Klein replaced what some would call a “racy” photo with a giant QR Code. If you scanned the Calvin Klein QR Code it would take you to a Calvin Klein “racy” movie. Video is better than photos right? Also in New York the Department of Sanitation are featuring QR Codes on 2,200 NYC sanitation trucks linking to a “How to Recycle” Video Created by Howcast. I’m not sure when you’re going to be close enough to a sanitation truck to scan the QR Code or why you would want to but it could be a New York thing but I give them an A- for trying to be creative with QR Codes and sanitation education. If you’re looking for other examples of brands, agencies and/or companies using QR Codes here are 8 recent example of using QR Codes for marketing and/or brand awareness.

Tissot Watches Utilizing QR Codes and Augmented Reality

Danica Patrick QR Code Scan

QRious Wallpaper By Rollout Inspired By QR Codes

QR Codes Used to Help Clean Up the Gulf

Verizon “Droid” Posters Feature QR Codes

Recycled Fashion Embraces QR Technology

Taking QR Codes to the next level (visually)

Tissot Models Wearing QR Code Shirts at MotoGP Race

Sources: LazyFeed.com

Is it just me or does it seem like agencies are linking QR Codes and women together a lot? #Justsayin

Have you seen any recent examples of QR Codes used for marketing or do you have plans to use QR Codes with your future projects?

Posted on June 24, 2010 - by carleemallard

iPhone 4 Launch Day at Crabtree Valley Mall (Raleigh)

Guest post by: carleemallard

Although the mall apparently had been open all night for people to start lining up at the Apple store’s front doors, I arrived at Crabtree bright and early at 5:00am, thinking that the mall wouldn’t open until 5:30am. To my surprise, we found two separate lines forming, one for those with iPhones reserved and another for those without a reservation. There were only about 50 people in the reservation line by the time we arrived at 5am, but unfortunately we found ourselves behind at least 150 others without reservations.

As early as it was, people were generally in good spirits and playing nice. Some were still sleeping from the overnight camp while others took the time to catch up on their laptops or iPads even though the reception and WiFi service was pretty slow. One person even brought his guitar and played it in the beach chair he brought. Everyone slowly started making friends with their neighbors in line knowing that they may be in it for the long haul.

Around 6:15am a few Apple employees brought out 10 dozen or so Dunkin Donuts to feed the early morning crowd. A good sign of things to come!

Anticipation grew as 7:00am neared. A few minutes before 7am, employees took down the black curtain that prevented us from getting a sneak peak into the preparation for all the madness that was about to ensue and the crowd cheered for the first time.

Immediately after the curtain fell (at 7:00am on the dot), 20 or so Apple employees came rushing out of the service door, running, screaming, and high-fiving everyone in line. We were all surprised, but it seemed like a great way to get the started!

Minutes later the doors finally opened at Apple and they started letting in about 10 people from the reservation line for every 1 person in the regular line. Needless to say, the reservation line moved pretty quickly for the first few hours while us in the regular line sat in the same place (only moving perhaps a foot an hour) for those first few hours.

But around 11am we at the middle/back of the non-reservation line started heering loud mysterious cheers from the front of our line. Ended up they were just cheering every time someone from our line got to enter the Apple store, approximately every 10-15 minutes. It was pretty motivating, to say the least. After being there for 6+ hours I think Apple realized they needed to keep us customers still in line motivated as well. They started going down the line handing out packs of pretzels and Ritz crackers, bottles of water, and then all sorts of candy just as if it were Halloween.

Not only that, but just around lunch time, Subway staff came around passing out mini ham & turkey subs! Lunch? Really? Amazing. Then more candy. Then more water. Followed by Lindt chocolate passing out those little chocolates to anyone who wanted some. In the late afternoon Bare Essentials even passed out free makeup samples to all the girls. This line wasn’t actually half bad, huh?

The line was moving about 5 minutes per person in line. I calculated I wouldn’t get into the store until 4:00pm at the earliest, but I stayed optimistic that perhaps it would start moving more quickly. By 3:00 I could start feeling the finish line as there were only 40-50 people ahead of me to go. We stayed energized by our new friends that we had just gotten to know over the past 10 hours. It was as if we’d known these people for months. We were never bored, but still eager to get through the line and back to our lives.

But then something amazing happened. A young man approached us in line asking how long we’d been waiting here in line (this was typical as all the regular mall-goers had been asking all day what we were

waiting in line for). When we told him since 5am, he told us that he worked over at Best Buy mobile and had a reservation for one of the 16GB iPhones cancel and he was offering it to me. Pure luck? An act of God? Either way, I left my place in line and followed “God” to his Best Buy mobile store and promptly paid for, activated, accessorized, and left the store with my new iPhone 4 in hand.

Upon leaving the mall I walked past my new friends who were still waiting in line and showed off my new gear.

They probably waited in line for another hour. Sorry Apple, you treated me really really well for those 11 hours, but in the end Best Buy mobile man saved the day!

Posted on June 15, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Poll: QR Codes vs Barcodes: Which one will foursquare and other location-based services use the most for check-ins? StickyBits hopes its Barcordes

As location-based services continue to be in a marketing industry beta lab and a buzz topic for blog post, users and startups are looking for better ways to make the check-in process easier and more valuable. Some users have mentioned they would like a way to auto check-in to a location and others would like to scan a barcode or qr code while entering a location. RFID is another technology being rumored to be implemented by Facebook but I believe QR Codes or Barcode along with better smart phones will the take lead in improving the check-in process.

A few startups offering QR Code and Barcode check-ins are Stickybits and φ². Stickybits is unique being that you can scan a barcode, use the barcode to check-in, add a comment, photo or even a video. The idea around stickybits is great being that it’s a social network, allows user generated content and lets brands manage “bits” to control the content. Recently Pepsi partnered with Stickybits for social media sponsorship campign. You can read more about it here: Stickybits Rolls Out “Official” Branded Bits, Signs Up Pepsi As First Advertiser via @TechCrunch

For more about Stickybits see the video below:

The φ² project markets itself as allowing “physical check-ins with Foursquare”. Basiclaly anyone can create a QRcode via their website that allows you to check-in when a user scans it. If you’re a business you can create your own window cling and encourage users to check-in with any QR code scanner. Watch the video below for more on φ²

Foursquare Physical Checkin from mobile life on Vimeo.

Other location-based applications/services are using QR codes such as Brightkite and Google Places. As for user adoption far more people in America are aware of barcodes in our society than QR code but I’m starting to see a big shift do to the recent incrrease of location-based applications use of QR Codes. At this time I believed QR codes if used properly have their advantages but the Stickybits barcode scanning platfrom is a great way to implement gaming and social content creation along with marketing in a simple concept.

What do you think, QR Codes vs Barcodes? Take the poll below:
Which one will foursquare and other location-based services use the most for check-ins?

Now, if you’re wondering what those QR and Barcodes on my blog are, now you know. If you’re interested in location-based marketing see my presentation: Getting Started with Location-based marketing in 2010:

Posted on June 9, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

5 How to use Google Wave YouTube videos to watch for better understanding of real-time collaboration

Google Wave has been out now for little over a year and depending on who you ask it’s a great tool or it’s a flop. Personally I’m a big fan of Google Wave and use it almost daily with my partners. Note I said with my partners because collaborating with others is the number one way to use Google Wave in it’s current state. Yes you can take notes, make a to-do-list, or write blog post in Google Wave but to really understand the power of Google Wave it’s best to use it working with a team on projections.

Often I’ll Tweet how much I like Google Wave and then I’ll get a response like the one above or that people are trying to compare Google Wave to another social network such as Facebook or Twitter. Google Wave does have friends list/contacts and you could look at the inbox as a wall but I don’t think that’s the correct approach. At one point I remember saying that Google Wave could even replace email. I still think it could but for right now Google Wave is all about collaboration.

To help users learn how to get more out of Google Wave, Google created a series of getting started YouTube videos. Here are 5 how to use Google Wave Youtube videos if you’re new to Google Wave.

1. Meet Google Wave

2. Managing your inbox

3. Google Wave: 15 features

4. Replying to waves

5. Editing waves

Do you use Google Wave if so how? If not why not?

Posted on May 28, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Google Wave turns one, then tweets and how to embed a Google Wave blip into any website

In case you missed it, Google Wave turned one year old today. I’m not sure what Google or the Google Wave team did to celebrate but the @Google Twitter account tweeted Happy Birthday about the news and soon the @googlewave team retweeted the message as you can see above and below.

Back in January I wrote a blog post called 9 practical ways to use Google Wave for business and fast forward six months later I’m still using Google Wave for business. Little did I know it was “Wave’s birthday and earlier today I tweeted the following message:

At the time I tweeted the message it was after reviewing some of the Google Wave “blips” / conversations that the TriOut team were having and some of the milestones we were reaching. Fast forward a few hours later Google Wave Product Manager Steph Hannon @twephanie tweeted the following:

No, Steph Hannon @twephanie thank you and the Google Wave team for continuing making a useful FREE collaborative tool for entrepreneurs like myself to use for team projects.

Since Google Wave launched from closed beta to public access one of the most requested features was to make it easy for people to embed Google Wave blip messages into a blog post or any website. I’m not sure when it was released but you can embed a google wave into any website with a Google Web Element called “Wave Element”. To do so go to: http://www.google.com/webelements/wave/ and just past the wave url you want to embed in the box and the Wave Element will provide you with the code to embed. Here’s an example and closing question below.

How are you using Google Wave?

Posted on May 11, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Short Film: Is the Semantic Web the Future of the Internet and will it be called Web 3.0?

If you’re a geek or manage a web based startup or a web developer/programmer or have an internet related business I think you should watch the video below. Ok, I think everyone should watch the video below. What is the video? It’s a short film by Kate Ray called Web 3.0. Kate Ray is a recently graduated Journalism/Psychology student from NYU called Web 3.0.

The video includes some of the pioneers of the internet and leaders who are shaping the future of the Internet. Some will call it Web 3.0 others the Semantic Web. Regardless the internet is changing and the question is will you be ready for it?

If you’re asking what is the Semantic Web, according to Wikipedia:

The Semantic Web is an evolving development of the World Wide Web in which the meaning (semantics) of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to “understand” and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content.[1][2] It derives from World Wide Web Consortium director Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s vision of the Web as a universal medium for data, information, and knowledge exchange.

via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web

Enough text, check out the Web 3.0 video below.

My favorite quote from the video is near the end where Tim Berners-Lee says “It’s a platform…… the idea of it is that it’s not to promote one particular application”.

[Tip to Mitch Joel]

Posted on May 8, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Video: The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth! – How can we help kids build rockets?

I just watch the “The Geek Shall inherit the earth” commercial by Connect a Million Minds on TV and immediately I “google” the name of the video.  Even though I don’t have kids and clearly not a kid I connected with the video in many ways. Here’s how:

1. It’s how I felt growing up during my high-school days… I’m talking about photoshop 1.0, Mac OS 9.5 & QuarkXpress. I’m old!
2. I often tell people I don’t do “marketing” but I understand people, relationships, gadgets/technology on the social web, so call me a geek not a marketing guy.
3. I believe in education and empowering kids to learn and be confident in their dreams/goals for entrepreneurship.
4. I love technology!

So what did my Google search results find me? The video was made for http://www.connectamillionminds.com From the Connect a Million Minds website:

In November 2009, Time Warner Cable launched Connect a Million Minds (CAMM), a philanthropic commitment of $100 million cash and in-kind donations. This five-year program was designed to inspire students to pursue learning opportunities and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Time Warner Cable announced its commitment to STEM in conjunction with the White House’s announcement of Educate to Innovate, President Obama’s plan for improving STEM opportunities for U.S. students. In his statement, President Obama highlighted the importance of public and private partnerships in addressing STEM readiness in American students, and singled out Time Warner Cable as a leader in the STEM space with its Connect a Million Minds program. According to national experts, the next generation of youth in the United States is not prepared to take on the challenges of the 21st century.

Although the video and program inspired , the last sentence above is just sad, “According to national experts, the next generation of youth in the United States is not prepared to take on the challenges of the 21st century?” Now as an grown-up geek I’m asking myself what can I do to help educate kids and build some rockets!

How can we help/inspire today’s youth to learn more about technology and be confident while doing so?

“We’re building rockets!”

Posted on May 6, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Is Google Chrome that fast? Video and Poll: What is your favorite web browser?

Ok, if you have not seen the Google Chrome video you have to watch it just for the geek in you. Forget the speed test part but the creative energy behind the video is just awesome. Take a look:

From the YouTube video description:

These speed tests were filmed at actual web page rendering times. If you’re interested in the technical details, read on!
Equipment used:
- Computer: MacBook Pro laptop with Windows installed
- Monitor – 24″ Asus: We had to replace the standard fluorescent backlight with very large tungsten fixtures to funnel in more light to capture the screen. In addition, we flipped the monitor 180 degrees to eliminate a shadow from the driver board and set the system preferences on the computer to rotate 180 degrees. No special software was used in this process.
- 15Mbps Internet connection.
- Camera: Phantom v640 High Speed Camera at 1920 x 1080, films up to 2700 fps

---

Earlier this year I switched to Google Chrome on my Mac but then I switched back Safari. What is your favorite web browser? Take the poll below.

Thanks!

Posted on April 20, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

New iPad app Penultimate surges to #1 in Apple's app store on the top paid apps list

This is interesting, yesterday I wrote about how I used Evernote to take notes during a lunch meeting and how one of the other attendees had a MoleSkine notebook but didn’t use it. As a fan of MoleSkine products I know what it’s like to be always traveling with a notebook to not only take notes but to doodle/draw on as well.

Looking at the app store today I noticed an app called Penultimate surge past Apple’s Pages App and the popular utility app GoodReeder. So what is Penultimate? Well among first launching the app it reminds me of…..my old Molkeskine.

Penultimate is made by Cocoa Box Design who apparently made an iPhone handwriting app and seems to have captured the magic of Moleskine notebooks by giving us the same experience in an iPad app.

Will I use Penutilmate on a regular basis? I don’t know yet as I like how Evernote saves my notes on the “cloud” and I can access them from anywhere. But you can email your “handwriting” notes to review later or you can email an entire Penutilmate notebook.

To see how Penutilmate works take a look at one of my “hot” handwriting notes below.

Also I’m sure it’s not something Apple may or may not have intended to do but I think the iPad is bringing back the stylus! It’s something you may need to assist you in writing notes. Today I picked up a pogo sketch from the Apple Store.

I’ve seen the pogo stylus used not only for note taking but for many of the drawing apps made for the iPad too.

App description from http://www.cocoabox.com

PENULTIMATE HANDWRITING
The ultimate notes app for iPad®. Write, sketch, imagine and remember. Your touch creates beautiful ink. Organize your ideas into infinite notebooks, and share by email with your coworkers, classmates, and friends.
Write everything from love letters to doodles with your own Handwriting, on your iPhone® or iPod touch®. Share notes by email, Facebook, or Twitter.

*Disclaimer: I have no relationship with the makers of Penutilmate & this is not a sponsored post.

What iPad app do you use for taking notes/sketches and why?

– Post From My iPad

Location:Turtle Point Dr,Raleigh,United States